Hobby horse



5. M. SHONE July 24, 1956 HOBBY HORSE Filed July 20. 1954 /M/wro/aSAMUEL M. A52m/v:r

3V L05 ATTDE/V. IIaeQ/s, [17.464,4 Fofr mi:

HOBBY HORSE Samuel M. Shone, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application July 20, 1954, Serial No. 444,450

1 Claim. (Cl. 272-53.1)

The present invention relates to a toy having a resemblance to an animalwhich is designed to be used for physiotherapeutic purposes with youngerchildren. A broad, general object of this invention is to provide a toyof this category which may be used by either normal or physicallyhandicapped children, and which, for the latter use, may be adjustedaccording to the ability of a child to operate the device.

This invention may be briey summarized as including a base, anadjustable carriage secured to Said base by spring means, a seat securedto said carriage, a simulated animals head pivotally mounted uponv saidcarriage; and means for attaching said head to either said base or tosaid carriage so as to control the motion of said carriage. The appendedclaim more precisely summarizes the actual details of the presentconstruction. These details are best more fully explained with referenceto the remainder of this specification and the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a toy of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view of the toy illustrated in Fig. 1showing one adjustment of part of this toy; and

Fig. 3 is a partially sectional view of one part of the toy illustratedin Fig. 1.

A toy of the invention is shown in Fig. l as including a base 11 formedout of two bilaterally symmetrical sections 12 of hollow tubing. Each ofthese sections 12 includes a center base portion 15 to the ends of whichthere are attached rubber cushions 16 of a type designed to bear againsta floor or other supporting surface and corner uprights 17 holding in anelevated position ends 18. As is best seen in Fig. 3, these ends 18terminate in end openings 20, each of which is designed to be alignedwith a corresponding opening 20 on the adjacent end 18 of the other ofthe sections 12. When the toy 10 is assembled, the ends 18 are thusaligned with one another; this relationship between the ends 18 ismaintained by means of small shafts 21 projecting into the end openings20 on both of two adjacent ends. Undesired movement of the shaft 21 atthe rear 22 of the toy 10 is prevented by a small bolt 25 passingthrough this shaft 21 and an end 18; undesired movement of the shaft 21at the front 26 of the toy 10 is prevented by means of an eye bolt 27passing through an end 18.

At the corners 28 of the sections 12 between the uprights 17 and theends 18, coil springs 30 are attached to the base 11 by means of eyebolts 31; these springs 30 are, in turn, connected to the eye bolts 32passing through the ends 35 of crossbars 36 forming a part of a carriage37. This carriage 37 includes, in addition to the crossbars 36, twospaced parallel supports 38, each of which has a top 40 and connectedparallel front and rear ends 41 and 42, respectively. Bolts 45 areemployed passing through selected pairs of holes 46 within the ends 41and 42 to secure these ends to the crossbars 36. It is readily apparentfrom Fig. 1 of the drawings that the height of the supports 38 can bereadily adjusted by varying the nited States Patent O 2,756,05i PatentedJuly 24, 1956 f 2 holes 46 through which the bolts 45 are passed. Another bolt 47 serves to aid in maintaining the parallel spacing of thesupports 38.

The carriage 37 has mounted thereon a seat 48 which is held upon thetops 40 of the supports 38 by brackets 50 secured to a generallysaddle-shaped board 51 forming a part of this seat by bolts 52. Abracket 55 is fastened to this board 51 towards the rear 22 of the toy10 so as to project generally upwardly. Heavy wires forming a back rest56 arey attached to this bracket 55 generally above the board 51Afor theobvious purpose; a strap 57 is fastened to the back rest 56 in order tohold a child upon the seat' if a child is unable to support himself orherself upon the toy 10. If desired, the rest 56 and the strap 57 can beomitted from the toy 10. lWith the seat construction shown, the seat 48can be moved along the tops 40 of the supports 38 as desired so that theseat 48 can be moved to the most convenient location fora child uponthis seat 48 to grasp handles 58 located upon opposite sides of asimulatedanimals head 60. In the draw ing, this head 60 is shownresembling a horse, but it can also be made to resemble a donkey, abull, an elephant, etc. The head itself is mounted between the tops 4i)of the supports 38 bya common pivot 61 projecting through these twotops; it is adapted to be held in any of several operative positionsby'means of a fastening bar 62 secured within a pivotal mounting 65 uponthe head 60. The end of this bar 62 remote from the head 60 is providedwith an eye 66 which is held by another eye 67 upon a bolt 27.

For one type of riding action of the toy 10, this bolt 27 can be securedwithin an opening (not shown) at the front 26 of the toy 10 asillustrated in Fig. l. When the toy 10 is assembled in this manner, achild upon the seat 48 can obtain a galloping type of action by pushingor pulling upon the handles 58. This feature of the invention is veryimportant with respect to the use of the toy 10 by physicallyhandicapped children having effective use of only one or both hands andarms. An actual physical embodiment of the invention assembled as shownin Fig. 1 has been very effectively employed in a heart-warming mannerin enabling a child having the effective use of only one arm to play insomewhat the manner of a normal child, while at the same time permittingand encouraging needed exercise of the arm. When the device is assembledas shown in Fig. l, the movement of the carriage 37 can be instantlystopped by holding the handles 58 in any given position, in the samemanner in which the reins of a horse are pulled in stopping the horse.

lf desired, the bolt 27 can be attached to any of the holes 46 enablingthe toy 10 to be used in much the manner of a conventional horse toy.The height and location of the handles 58 can be varied by changing thehole 46 which is used for this purpose (Note Fig. 2).

One major advantage of the instant invention lies in the fact that itcan be adjusted in virtually any desired manner so as to t, from anactual point of view, virtually any child, depending upon the size ofthe child, by varying the height of the supports 38 upon the crossbars36 or by moving the seat 48 as desired. Such adjustment may be veryeasily and readily accomplished with a minimum of difficulty within theconstruction specifically shown.

Another major advantage of the instant invention lies in the fact thatthe carriage 37 and the base 11 can be formed out of hollow aluminumtubing so that the entire device possesses extremely low weight. Despitesuch low weight, and the fact that the seat 48 and the carriage 37 maybe positioned in virtually any location so that the carriage 37 can haveeither a high or low center of gravity as desired, the toy 10 possessesvery stable characteristics and is virtually impossible to upset.Further, because of the precise construction shown, the toy of theinstant invention can be readily disassembled and shipped in a flat,narrow box occupying very little volume with a minimum of `diiculty, andcan be assembled by any housewifeV or other individual without a greatdeal of effort.

Those skilled in the art will realize that the herein describedinvention is capable of wide modifications within the scope of theinstant disclosure. Such modifications are to be considered as part ofthe inventive concept insofar as they are defined by the appended claim.

I claim as my invention: j

A toy ofthe class described which comprises: a base having front andrear ends formed out of two bilaterally symmetrical sections of hollowtubing, each of said sections including a center base portion, corneruprights attached to the ends of said portion, and horizontallyextending ends attached to said corner uprights, the ends ofsaidsections being aligned with one another at the front and rear endsof said basegtmeans holding said ends of said sections in alignment withone another; eye bolts attached to said base adjacent the uppermostportion ofy said corner uprights; coil springs Vcarried by each of saideye bolts; cross bars positionedV adjacent to and between said front andrear ends; a second set of eye bolts attached to the ends of said crossbars, said second set of eye bolts being connected lto said coilsprings; two supportmembers of identical construction, each having a topand parallel front and rear ends, mounted parallel to, and spaced fromone another with said front ends of said support members being securedto one of said cross bars and with said rear end of support membersbeing secured to the other of said cross bars; means attached to saidsupport members for maintaining the spacing of said support members; apivot projecting from one of said support members to the other of saidsupport members adjacent to the front end of said base; a simulated headmounted upon said pivot so as to be capable of movement between saidsupport members; a pivotal mounting upon said head adjacent to the frontend of said base; a fastening bar secured within said pivotal mountingso as to project therefrom; means detachably securing said fastening barto the front end of said base whereby movement of said support memberswith respect to said base will cause said head to rotate with respect tosaid support members; a seat positioned on said tops of said supportmembers; brackets positioned beneath said tops oi said support members;and bolts securing said brackets and said seat to one another in aposition upon said support members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,437,015 Baltz Mar. 2, 1948 2,552,002 Dunbar May 8, 1951 2,659,602Cowsar Nov. 17, 1953

